Help, Please - Chapter 8 (Patreon)

"Oh, phooey!" Lara squeaked, her body lurching forward to try to catch the laptop, far too late to avoid it falling to the floor. Thankfully, it was over the carpet, so as far as she could tell when she picked it up, set it back on the coffee table, it was fine, but you never knew with these things... If Cassie found out Lara had messed up her computer, she'd be in big trouble!

Heart still thumping wildly in her chest, Lara knelt in front of the computer, grateful she'd been in the middle of vacuuming, even if it had been the cord that had caught the laptop and sent it tumbling; at least the sound of it had probably drowned out her exclamation, prevented Cassie from overhearing it from the bathroom. Something did seem off, silly, childish, about what she'd heard herself say, though she didn't have time to worry about that now.

She didn't have long before Cassie would be back, and she had to be positive that she hadn't damaged her laptop before then, so she could prepare an apology, a plan for action, if she needed to. Only babies like Tiffany would try to hide what they'd done, act like it hadn't happened, take no responsibility... Lara shook her head, easily able to imagine the girl toddling off, pretending she'd been in another room entirely, playing dumb when she was questioned about whether she knew anything. Of course, in general, that wasn't too far off from the truth, but in this particular instance, she would know why the laptop was on the floor, as anyone would be able to tell from the way she attempted to lie about it.

To be fair, Lara didn't intend to volunteer that information if she didn't have to. In order to see if she would, she needed to be certain the computer worked properly still. Normally, she'd never dream of violating Cassie's property this way... All she was doing, however, was examining it for dents, testing out the keyboard, running her fingers over the trackpad, then giving it a click.

Everything appeared to be fine, and she was ready to click back into the browser window she'd minimized to check the trackpad when something on the desktop caught her eye. She paused, biting down hard on her bottom lip, knowing this wasn't any of her business, that Cassie would be back any moment now, that she should put everything back the way it was and return to the vacuum still whirring beside her...

Except, this was her business, wasn't it? Because, on the desktop, there were a pair of folders, one marked Tiffany, the other Lara. The one for Tiffany made sense, especially after she opened it up, saw all the pictures Cassie had taken for the website. There were a few audio files, too, which confused Lara at first, sure she didn't remember seeing those posted on the site anywhere. Perhaps they were there for a future update, a project Cassie was in the middle of, recording some of the cute, infantile nonsense Tiffany said...

But... Why were there audio files in her own folder, too? Some of the names were even identical, and she had a feeling, if she went back and double-checked, the file sizes would be as well. There were also quite a few pictures of her, the same as Tiffany, the first of which hit her like a ton of bricks, nearly stunning her as she saw herself, standing there in her designer clothes, smirking at the camera.

She whimpered, glancing down at herself, at her soggy diaper, the sole piece of clothing she was wearing, something seeming suddenly very wrong, though she got an answer for what that was when she dared to look up again and saw a shadow moving down the hallway towards her. Quickly, her hand darted upwards, having just enough time to restore the browser before Cassie stepped back into the living room.

"Whatcha doing there?" she raised an eyebrow. Lara replied with a grunt, and the familiar sensation of her diaper starting to expand beneath her. "Oh, I see," Cassie chuckled, picking up her laptop and settling back onto the couch. "Carry on."

Lara did feel like a hypocrite, avoiding telling Cassie the truth when she'd deemed Tiffany a baby for doing the same in her imagination, but some voice at the back of her mind told her it was the right thing to do. It also told her that something was off about the whole situation, practically screaming it at her, as if it had been waiting to say it for a very long time, and hadn't been able to.

Why was she wearing only a diaper? Cassie had told her it would make her job easier, and more convenient, and help her be a good example for Tiffany, and yet... That image of herself in her old clothes haunted her. It looked so right, the same way her diapers did now, in a way that made those diaper seem wrong somehow. There was no doubt she wasn't padded under the tight skirt she'd been wearing... She knew she hadn't always worn diapers, of course; that knowledge had been lurking in the back of her mind, pushed so far back that it almost felt like a dream after so long of being Cassie's maid.

That wasn't all, either. The more she thought about it as she went into Tiffany's room to clean there, the more she had to wonder where Cassie had found the money to build a fully furnished, adult-sized, nursery. And for that matter, Cassie's laptop was brand new, and quite a nice one at that... She'd been getting a lot of new stuff lately, and, as far as Lara knew, she hadn't gotten a raise or a promotion or anything. The website was making some money, but it wouldn't be enough for all of that... Would it?

She didn't want to jump to any conclusions, certainly not now, when everything felt so strange, so fuzzy, with her mind trying to tell her that everything she noticed was fine almost as soon as she started to ponder if it was the opposite. She could, and should, have a conversation about this, see what Cassie had to say, if she had any insight into it.

"Cassie?" she poked her head into the living room, finding the girl still on the couch, staring at her computer, sipping an iced coffee. "I was just wondering..."

Cassie's head snapped over towards her, nostrils flaring. "Oh, you were, were you?" she asked snottily. "Well, I was wondering something, too. Did you touch my laptop?"

A jolt of fear struck Lara, freezing her where she stood. Had she missed something in her check?! "I-I'm sorry! I-I was...!"

"I knew it," Cassie sniffed. "I was sure I saw your greasy fingerprints all over it!"

Lara blushed, self-consciously wiping her hands on her bare legs. "I-I didn't..." she protested. If anything, they might have been a bit sweaty from being wrapped around the vacuum's handle all morning...

"You know better," Cassie chastised her. "This is mine, not yours! Honestly... You are getting so sloppy lately! I'm going to have to bring in another maid just to clean up after your messes!"

"N-No, you don't!" Lara insisted. "I-I'll do better!"

Cassie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right... All you want to do is finish your chores so you can go play baby. Maybe I should let you do that all the time, like Tiffany!"

Lara paused, fidgeting. Wasn't it Cassie who wanted her to be more of an example to Tiffany, to act more like a baby around her to show her how it was done? It was hard to imagine that young woman from the picture willingly deciding to do that on her own... But, no, that couldn't be it. Cassie had to be right, and why should she be accusing Lara if it was her fault?

"I-I just want to help," Lara told her. "I-I'm doing the best I can..."

Cassie grinned, pushing her computer aside and standing up. "No, I don't think you are... I think you need a little encouragement... A little reminder of who the boss is around here."

"No, I don't!" Lara shook her head. "I know it's you!"

That didn't stop the shorter girl from grabbing her by the hand, pulling her back to her bedroom, making her stand by awkwardly as she yanked open the closet. Lara felt herself begin to chew on her bottom lip again, seeing that same outfit from the picture, all of her other ones, memories slowly filtering in of her buying them, going out on the town in them... Being a normal, diaper-less, adult...

"Look at all this space you're wasting," Cassie clicked her tongue disapprovingly. "We could be using this for something else!"

Lara squirmed, a part of her wanting to ask what - or who - they might use that space for. It was just a closet, after all, in her room... But... For how much longer? Was Cassie really looking for someone to replace her?

"And you are just squandering all these privileges," Cassie sauntered over to the desk, pulling open the drawer where Lara had stashed her cell phone, her wallet, her car keys. "I've been kind enough to allow you to keep all of this, and when was the last time you checked your phone? Or offered to drive to the store and buy groceries yourself? You certainly don't wear any of these clothes."

She didn't have time for any of that, not when she had to clean, and look after Tiffany... And Cassie had the groceries she wanted delivered. She'd never complained about it before, had told Lara she preferred it, so she could get exactly what she wanted, when Lara had offered to do that exact thing... But Lara still felt the need to tell her, "I-I'm sorry," when she brought it up now, feeling like it must be her fault somehow.

Cassie's eyebrow arched. "We'll see about that. "You obviously don't need any of it, so... Would you please throw it all out into the trash where it belongs?"

Lara's stomach lurched, knowing that something wasn't right, that she shouldn't... However, her body was already moving, nodding, hurrying to the kitchen to fetch the box of garbage bags from under the sink. She pulled one out, flicking it open, waddling to the closet and grabbing a handful of hangers, stuffing them obediently into the bag.

"Wow," Cassie teased. "Look at those labels... I wonder how much you spent on those?"

"I-I don't know," Lara confessed. She knew it had been a lot, though, that she shouldn't be treating them like garbage... But Cassie had said please, so this must be for the best, somehow, just like getting rid of her phone, her credit cards, her ID, every last trace of her old, adult, life, had to be... And it was her own fault, anyway. She should have left Cassie's laptop alone. It was only natural that Cassie be upset about that... 

It did seem a bit odd, if that was the case, when she finished up, hauling the bags to the front door of the apartment so she could take them down to the dumpster with the other trash once she'd emptied the diaper pails, to hear her say, "I got you a reward for your hard work." If she was rewarding her for this, how had she gotten it already? Had she been planning this, waiting for the right moment, the right excuse?

Sure enough, when she led Lara back to her room and had her open up her closet again, it was no longer totally empty... Instead, there were a few packages of diapers, each of them with a different babyish design on them, all of which promised to fade when wet.

"Aren't they nice?" Cassie grinned. "They're going to make you look so much more mature. There won't ever be any doubt that you know how to use your diapers like a big girl, or when you've done so... And you get to choose which design to wear when! Isn't that fun?" Lara stared at them, the discomfort in her belly growing slightly at the sight of all those where her wardrobe had been only a few minutes ago, before she'd gotten rid of it all herself. "That's going to be the closest you get to high fashion for a while," Cassie snickered, almost to herself.

"Wh-What was that?" Lara glanced down at her uncertainly.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to go ahead and get changed," Cassie replied sweetly. "I know you don't need one yet, but I bet Tiffany would love to see your new diapers."

Lara nodded, letting out a giggle as she thought about how she was going to rub this in Tiffany's face as another way to show how much of a big girl she was in comparison to her. And that weird feeling in her tummy surely just meant she was going to need to mess again soon, which would only help... What else could it be about?

"Okay!" she nodded eagerly. "That's a great idea!"

"Of course it is," Cassie smirked. "I knew you'd like it..."